Sojourners - Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolhttp://sojo.net/taxonomy/term/21279/0
enA Time to Grieve, a Time to Rememberhttp://sojo.net/blogs/2013/12/18/time-grieve-time-remember
<p>To mark the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, which left 20 students and six adults dead, a vigil for victims of gun violence was held at Washington National Cathedral last week.</p><p>The vigil, sponsored in part by the Newtown Foundation, was a service to remember and honor the more than 30,000 people who lose their lives to gun violence each year. It provided a space for the community to come together in prayers for hope, peace, and love.</p><p>After three minutes of silence during the calling bells, a trio of faith leaders, including a rabbi, a Sikh leader, and a Christian minister, offered up calls to prayer. At his turn to speak, Dr. Rajwant Singh affirmed that “whichever way we reach out to God, we can become separated from each other by ignorance, hatred, and violence.” “Each heart is God’s heart, and each body is God’s temple,” Singh continued, “so if you want to honor God, don’t take anyone’s life, or break anyone’s heart.”</p><p><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/12/18/time-grieve-time-remember" target="_blank">read more</a></p>God's PoliticsGun ViolenceNewtownSandy Hook Elementary SchoolSandy Hook Elementary School shootingsschool shootingWashington National CathedralSpecial TopicWed, 18 Dec 2013 15:07:22 +0000Anna Hall51987 at http://sojo.netSandy Hook Anniversary Reminds Us That Love Endureshttp://sojo.net/blogs/2013/12/08/sandy-hook-anniversary-reminds-us-love-endures
<p>This week marks a year since the nearly incomprehensible school shootings in Newtown, Conn. Gaping holes in families, lives, and the greater community remain, as the question of why such a thing happened still lingers on everyone’s lips and in minds.</p><p>Looking back for answers sometimes only serves to deepen the wounds, rather than help heal them. The shooter demonstrated serious mental illness. He played violent video games, including one called “School Shooting.” He catalogued similar events as they emerged in the news. He holed up in his room, garbage bags on the windows, until his mother helped him buy the gun.</p><p>None of this offers us the peace we seek. What we want is an end to such terrible violence, and a relief from the lingering fear that haunts us while we know another incident is only a matter of time. As a parent of two school-age children, I was made painfully aware of the vulnerabilities in their schools as I’d drop them off, sending them, alone, into the building.</p><p><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/12/08/sandy-hook-anniversary-reminds-us-love-endures" target="_blank">read more</a></p>ChildrenGod's PoliticsLoveSandy HookSandy Hook Elementary SchoolSandy Hook shootingFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceSun, 08 Dec 2013 21:46:46 +0000Christian Piatt51746 at http://sojo.netTwitter and Tragedy: A Revamped American Religious Experiencehttp://sojo.net/blogs/2013/09/16/twitter-and-tragedy-revamped-american-religious-experience
<p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On my first Patriots’ Day in Boston, I was enjoying lunch with several colleagues when someone rushed into the restaurant: There had been an explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Moments later, caravans of ambulances and police cars raced, and the reports of casualties rolled in.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In the hours and days that followed, social media became for me, and many others, a sacred space to share our prayers and words of disbelief.</p><p><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/09/16/twitter-and-tragedy-revamped-american-religious-experience" target="_blank">read more</a></p>#Newtown#nowordsBoston MarathonBoston marathon bombingFacebookGod's PoliticshashtagInstagramnew religious practicePrayerreligious practiceSandy HookSandy Hook Elementary SchoolSandy Hook shootingsocial mediatwitterFaith and SpiritualityLife and PeaceMon, 16 Sep 2013 17:34:59 +0000Timothy K. Snyder50383 at http://sojo.netNewtown ‘Debacle’ Reopens Old Wounds for Missouri Synodhttp://sojo.net/blogs/2013/02/14/newtown-%E2%80%98debacle%E2%80%99-reopens-old-wounds-missouri-synod
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ST. LOUIS — A decision by the leader of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to censure a pastor for participating in a prayer service for victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre has reopened old wounds for an often politically divided denomination.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Rev. Matthew Harrison asked the Rev. Rob Morris, pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newtown, Conn., to apologize for participating in a public interfaith vigil with President Obama two days after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the town’s elementary school.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Morris apologized and Harrison accepted, but the exchange sparked a media firestorm with charges that the 2.4 million-member denomination was intolerant, insensitive or both. On Sunday,&nbsp;<a _fcksavedurl="http://www.religionnews.com/2013/02/11/missouri-synod-president-apologizes-for-role-in-newtown-debacle/" href="" target="_blank">Harrison said he made a bad situation even worse.</a></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“As president of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, I take responsibility for this debacle,” he said. “I handled it poorly, multiplying the challenges. I increased the pain of a hurting community.”</p><p><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/02/14/newtown-%E2%80%98debacle%E2%80%99-reopens-old-wounds-missouri-synod" target="_blank">read more</a></p>God's PoliticslutheranLutheran Church-Missouri Synodmatthew beckermatthew harrisonNewtownRacial and Social JusticeSandy HookSandy Hook Elementary SchoolFaith and PoliticsThu, 14 Feb 2013 16:49:29 +0000Tim Townsend46725 at http://sojo.netIn Newtown Churches, Many Questions — and Tears — But Few Answershttp://sojo.net/blogs/2012/12/17/newtown-churches-many-questions-%E2%80%94%C2%A0and-tears-%E2%80%94-few-answers
<p class="p1">NEWTOWN, Conn. — Dealing with the pain of the school shooting that claimed 28 lives will take faith, support, and joyous Christmas celebrations, church leaders said at the first Sunday services held since the tragedy.<br><br> At houses of worship around town, people gathered in pews, crying, kneeling, and hugging each other through services that focused on remembering the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, uniting the community, celebrating the meaning of Christmas and preventing similar disasters.<br><br> Yet even this beleaguered town's day of worship provided a moment of fear when congregants at <a href="http://www.strosechurch.com/"><span class="s1">St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church</span></a> fled the building, saying they were told there was a bomb threat. Police with guns drawn surrounded the church. No injuries were reported, but the church canceled all events for the day.<br><br> Earlier in the day, services at St. Rose, much like other places of worship in the area, were focused on the tragedy.</p><p><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/12/17/newtown-churches-many-questions-%E2%80%94%C2%A0and-tears-%E2%80%94-few-answers" target="_blank">read more</a></p>ChurchesEnd the ViolenceFaithGod's PoliticsNewtownSandy Hook Elementary SchoolSpiritualityViolenceLife and PeaceMon, 17 Dec 2012 21:46:57 +0000Yamiche Alcindor45876 at http://sojo.netReports: 27 Dead in Conn. Elementary School Shootinghttp://sojo.net/blogs/2012/12/14/reports-27-dead-conn-elementary-school-shooting
<p>According to <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/school-shooting-reported-newtown-conn" target="_blank">AP</a>, 27 have been killed, including 18 children, at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p class="p1">An official with knowledge of a shooting at a Connecticut elementary school says 27 people are dead, including 18 children.</p><p class="p1">The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way.</p><p class="p1">Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity for the same reason, says the gunman is among the dead.</p></blockquote><p>Sojourners extends our thoughts and prayers to all of the children, teachers, staff, and families of those involved.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Lord, give peace to those who await news about their loved ones. Show your presence to those who may feel far from you during this tragedy. Amen.</em></p><p>Watch live reports here:&nbsp;</p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="253" scrolling="no" src="http://cdn.livestream.com/embed/foxct?layout=4&amp;height=340&amp;width=560&amp;autoplay=false" style="border:0;outline:0" width="450"></iframe></p><div style="font-size: 11px;padding-top:10px;text-align:center;width:450px">Watch <a href="http://www.livestream.com/?utm_source=lsplayer&amp;utm_medium=embed&amp;utm_campaign=footerlinks" title="live streaming video">live streaming video</a> from <a href="http://www.livestream.com/foxct?utm_source=lsplayer&amp;utm_medium=embed&amp;utm_campaign=footerlinks" title="Watch foxct at livestream.com">foxct</a> at livestream.com</div><p><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/12/14/reports-27-dead-conn-elementary-school-shooting" target="_blank">read more</a></p>God's PoliticsNewton CTSandy Hook Elementary Schoolschool shootingLife and PeacePeace and NonviolenceQuick ReadFri, 14 Dec 2012 17:32:10 +0000the Web Editors45849 at http://sojo.net